Want more content folks ... follow these links. Check out the current discounts on my offline vids and articles www.collativelearning.com/ Join my Film, Game & Media analysis page on Facebook facebook.com/groups/4637000646361309 ... as well as following the Collative Learning FB page facebook.com/RobAgerpublic Get a copy of my video game To The Death store.steampowered.com/app/2758570/To_The_Death/ ... and follow the game on the Ager Games KZread channel www.youtube.com/@robagergames ... and at the To The Death FB page facebook.com/profile.php?id=61555615927786 Follow me on Twitter / X twitter.com/RobAger Signing up as a monthly supporter on Patreon gets you arround 12 hrs more content www.patreon.com/RobAger PLEASE ALSO POST YOUR RESPONSES TO THE VIDEO CONTENT ABOVE SEPARATELTY FROM THIS PINNED COMMENT, THANKS.

@TPB129.

2 ай бұрын

Excellent work Rob, was wondering how you were doing, glad you're back, and with such a gem. Love your channel, but especially your Alien videos.

@collativelearning

2 ай бұрын

@@TPB129. Cheers. I needed a big psychological break from the routine of film analysis and editing. So dove deep into game development. Wasn't worth coming back to making videos until my heart was genuinely in it, which it now is again. So will now be splitting my time between the game and the vids ... and hopefully fit the writing of my book in there somewhere!

@uzer-0f2wEe

2 ай бұрын

Thumbs uuuuup

@Antichristlamic

2 ай бұрын

Subscribed.

An hour long video on Alien is a gift I didn't expect today.

@mattiassjoquist5042

2 ай бұрын

Such a treat!

@heatrayzvideo3007

2 ай бұрын

Also I bought you a car.

@Twilleh

2 ай бұрын

@@heatrayzvideo3007 wow thanks!

Former combat medic here. Rob, you have no idea how much your videos help with my ptsd. I listen to them often, and they help me get through so much mental shit. Keep up the great work. I always look forward to these. ❤

@themoon8801

2 ай бұрын

Thank you for your service

@TheDarkWizard666

Ай бұрын

I agree, thanks for you're service too mate.

I love that Rob loves the aesthetic and creative execution of Alien Isolation as much as I do. I would LOVE a full playthrough with Rob giving his commentary while hiding in lockers!

@TheAngryHippie

2 ай бұрын

As would I

@user-dd8tx8jw7y

Ай бұрын

He should narrate the game Stanley parable style

An hour long video was worth the wait.

@cosmicXtropics

2 ай бұрын

Are you joking?

@TheDarkWizard666

Ай бұрын

Always, haha

Even if it’s 10 years old, this is one of the best video game reviews on the internet 💯👍

@collativelearning

2 ай бұрын

10 yrs old? I finished editing this video yesterday :)

@RichardPhillips1066

2 ай бұрын

​@@collativelearningperhaps he meant a review of ten year old game it came out in 2014

@dpyousee

2 ай бұрын

@@collativelearning I just meant the game was 10 years old. And that I appreciate the new upload nonetheless! Great stuff as always!

@collativelearning

2 ай бұрын

@@dpyousee Haha, got ya. My bad. cheers :)

@danirizary6926

Ай бұрын

​@@collativelearning another time traveler, sheesh

I got to know Terry Rawlings fairly well in the last year of his life. We kept missing each other for years as we both went to the same cafe in Borehamwood and then the owner’s new cafe at Elstree Aerodrome. He was unbelievably nice and told me all kinds of stories about his music choices for Alien and the rift that caused with Jerry Goldsmith. But it is because of Rawlings that we hear Goldsmith’s earlier work from “Freud” instead of his score for Alien in regard to the Dallas tunnel death scene. Terry also chose the closing piece that wasn’t Goldsmith at all. Terry told me about the cut shot of the xenomorph hanging above Brett in a Christ pose, which I found later in a documentary that Terry was in. Terry wasn’t aware that shot was in the documentary. He also spoke of his high regard for Alien 3 the Directors Cut, which he also edited. We talked a bit about Blade Runner and also about his work on Legend. And then about his love for music in general. Terry was a massive jazz fan and because I was a bit of jazz drummer he made a jazz cd for me. I also reconnected him with an Apartment neighbour he had in L.A. back during the filming of Blade Runner. The neighbour was acclaimed jazz drummer Jeff Hamilton who I was once a student of. It wasn’t long after I managed to get Jeff to email Terry that Terry had a heart attack and was hospitalised. He was 83 I believe. He later passed away in hospital. He was my super cool new friend for a cherished short while. I saw his wife just a couple weeks later at the local Tesco and gave her a hug. She just looked at me like she had been blind sided. It was maybe only a couple months earlier we were all laughing about scenes in the movie “Indiscreet” with Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant. Terry met his wife working on that film. He was doing sound editing and she was an assistant to someone. All I ever really asked him was how he was able to edit these amazing films and he just shrugged “Well you just follow the script.” Brilliant And amazing analysis video here - well done.

@collativelearning

2 ай бұрын

Lovely story. Wish i could have met him. I've done a fair bit of editing on fiction films and his work on alien is incredible.

@danzambrana

2 ай бұрын

amazing story

@UFOcomputers

2 ай бұрын

@@collativelearning • I wish I could’ve managed to introduce you two. A deep regret. At least we can be grateful you’re “still collating”.

@DraxAD1972

2 ай бұрын

Wonderful story . You're so lucky .

@davidlean1060

2 ай бұрын

One of Ridley Scott's sons speaks about Rawlings in the Blade Runner making of documentary. He tells about taking a summer job working with Terry as he is editing Blade Runner. He would walk into the editing suite, be greeted by the smell of cigarettes & celuloid and Rawlings excitedly calling him over to look at some footage he put together. I love that this master of his craft was so unpretentious, he'd share his work with a teenager, even if that teen was the boss' son.

It's a treat when Collative Learning uploads a video because unlike other channels, it's quality over quantity.

Dude, I can't believe they haven't made an Alien Isolation movie yet. They have everything they need: a great storyline, interesting characters, and an awesome set design. It could easily be a better trilogy or even a sequel to the original Alien movie.

this channel is a gem

Rob, have you considered giving a commentary on Alien Isolation while actually playing the entire game itself. I'm sure I'd be among thousands of others who'd be interested to see you do it.

@collativelearning

2 ай бұрын

Yeah have considered it. Might do that and put it on the Ager Games channel.

Alien Isolation is the ONLY game I ever quit because of the nightmares it gave me.

@MCCrleone354

2 ай бұрын

Wow. I like the game a lot, but it didn’t give me nightmares. That’s a bummer You can’t finish it, it’s pretty good. The ending is kind of lame, though.

Just recently I found out there was a pair of enthusiasts (InCamera) rebuilding and refilming miniature Alien sets made from 3D resin printers. Absolute joy watching them recreate the atmosphere of suspense and horror with Giger's fabulous ideas from a garden shed.

HE'S BACK!

Such a great ambassador for this epic game 👍

A L I E N A L I E N S ALIEN³

@jimmjimms

2 ай бұрын

Alium

Another theory on the zebra stripes is that the predator can't figure out one individual when the zebra pack is running close together. The cat only see a bulging mass where the many black and white stripes confuses the cat. Like those optical illusions shown here in the beginning of the video. If one single zebra gets behind or to far a side, the cat sees one individual zebra, and sets after it.

@collativelearning

2 ай бұрын

That's a good one. Makes sense :)

@collativelearning

2 ай бұрын

@sauliluolajan-mikkola620 That poor zebra.

The bouncing blue rubber toy is called a Hoptimist and was designed by danish furniture designer Hans Gustav Ehrenreich in 1968 :)

Yay... a video that isn't KZread content creators bickering and sniping... I also have realised that I have been subscribed to Collative Learning for over a decade now. Or at least been watching for over a decade, because I think I was using my old KZread account back when I first found this channel. Anyway, I hope to continue watching CL videos.

This was excellent! Thank you! This opened a whole new door to why this movie (a game) captured my imagination!

I've never had the inclination to play Alien: Isolation but you've changed my mind there. Today, as I write, it's April 23rd, 2024 so Friday is 26th April, or 0426 as our American cousins would tell me. That means Friday is ''Alien Day'', when, if I didn't dress as Samuel Brett the rest of the year anyway, I would on that day. I saw Alien on its release back in 1979 and its always stayed with me, at first due to Giger's designs, then the Nostromo took over. I don't think a spaceship has ever been so fully realised and ''made flesh'' as the Nostromo was. I'll admit the Discovery from 2001 holds a place in my heart but not like the Nostromo. As you so rightly pointed out, it was a team effort and the exterior was more chance than design from the information I've read. As a committed (and some say I should be) player of Eve-Online for 19 years I've managed to shoehorn both of my obsessions together to become, in my own mind, a true ''space trucker'' amongst many other things. All of this has very little to do with your analysis to be sure, but I do want you to know there are those of us (or possibly just me) who enjoy any views on Alien, its hardware, and the effects on the audience. Thank you for your work and time taken to make it, and thank you for reading my thoughts!

The more it (alien) moves, the less scarier it gets. Good point.

The fact that the Nostromo is such an enormous ship and has living quarters for the crew that are cramped and minimal adds to the corporate prioritizing of profits over people. There's plenty of room for all that mineral ore they mined.

Hats off to the Alien Isolation team. They really created something amazing. Really the best thing to happen to the franchise since Aliens

Rob, could you please make a video about the 'Working-Joe'-Androids? I find them to unbelievably horrifying, and there are certainly many subliminals at play (the mask-face, the staring eyes, the weird chatter they give off etc.). Have a nice weekend! :-)

The airlock scene where it opens to allow the astronauts to walk onto the planet's surface is very good at contrasting the safe ship from the hostile environment

Any talk of the original Alien is a gift. I just watched it the other night and realized how rough the editing is. Maybe that's the charm of the dirtiness of it. Also playing Isolation and love the feel. Takes me right into the film!! I also love that they use unused designs from Ron Cobb and other artists for the original film!

I’ve been waiting for this one, thanks Rob!

I love Alien Isolation. the best horror survival game...

Rob, I unabashedly love your work. Thank you.

The bouncing toy is called a Hoptimist, its a danish art toy. The point of them and the other "gachapon" like the drinking bird, the spring bird (which is also a hoptimist) that Ash hits is that each space port they would pick up stuff from the gift shop. This was mentioned by i think the art department or even Scott. In the beginning of the movie when the camera moves through into the cockpit and stops at the computer terminal of Kane's seat there is an elephant keychain dangling which is a dutch 60's jam mascot. John Hurt played Joseph Merrick, the elephant man, by coincidence? Probably but still very cool. I actually own three of those keychains.

@collativelearning

2 ай бұрын

Thankyou so much for that info. I had picked up on the Elephant Man possible connection to the dangling toy, but had no idea what the origin of the bouncing blue ball was :)

Certified classic Rob Ager drop!

Epic new video!!! Watching now, look forward to the game as well hope it’s a success for all your hard work Ager :)

Right on! Great video as always.

Thank you for this. Ive had Isolation on the shelf for months without playing it, now its my weekend project.

@collativelearning

2 ай бұрын

I hated it when I first played as the gameplay was too slow. Took me years to give it another shot without expecting an Aliens style FPS shoot em up. So glad I did.

Great video!! Keep them coming👍👍

Great analysis, once gain. You've got a real knack for articulating and distilling everything I love about Alien and Alien: Isolation. I wanted to add some thoughts to your discussion at the end on color. The sleepy lighting you mention isn't disconcerting for its dimness alone, but also for the hues it casts on the general surroundings. I think Alien: Isolation does this particularly well, for example, with the drab, sickly-looking green of the fluorescent lights in the medical wing or the dull yellow-brown of some of the warning lights. These remind the viewer of the sorts of dim sodium lamps which would light a sidewalk or alleyway at night, and in a way it feels as if the very environment itself is possessed with a sort of malice or ill-will towards the viewer, never mind the alien milling about within it.

@TheDarkWizard666

Ай бұрын

Such a good channel!

I just finished playing Dead Space Remake and is fantastic! Also, the top down game Aliens: Dark Descent has a good story(canonic)!

@RussellB

2 ай бұрын

playing Dark Descent made me realize more USMC movies could be made in the Aliens universe, instead of forcing Ripley into some new story. thinking that repeatedly trying to put a spin on the first movie would work.

Red is apparently a color that exacerbates insomnia and is infrequently used as wall paint for this reason. It would certainly not mesh well for that reason if used alongside the sleepy environment prevalent in the ship design.

thank u so much for this ive been suffering with temprol lobe seizures and so many are around the movies that were on repeat in my toxic house groing up so deep dives like this help me untangle 34 years of sparks

I loved your vids on Optical Anxiety in The Shining, so this was an instant click!

What a fantastic surprise, thank you rob👍

What a wonderful suprise this morning, time to watch every second twice

Wow. I didn't even realise geometry could induce anxiety, but that's just a wonderful example

Man, you're videos are so good! I enjoy them so much and love the in depth analysis you do. Thanks mate. Big fan, the cleanest best pleasure this channel is.

@Kneenibble

6 күн бұрын

You have the clothes thing going on.

@TheDarkWizard666

6 күн бұрын

@@Kneenibble I really drove this far for no reason...

@Kneenibble

6 күн бұрын

@@TheDarkWizard666 Sorry for making you waste your gas.

@TheDarkWizard666

6 күн бұрын

@Kneenibble I'm cute though, built good

Thank you!! It's been a truly cr*p Easter and you've actually made me happy with this today. Thank you for what you do. It's truly appreciated.

Great content as usual, Rob

Superb glad your back 👍 going to enjoy listening to this with a beer after a 2 -10 shift !

One thing i find interesting is unlike in the films you as the player can be killed by the alien while attempting to read an entry or unlock a door. Something the film didn't show it's audience as the cinema goer's need to be able to read what is displayed where the game doesn't. The audience will not feel stressed when reading the monitors in the film. But anyone who has played isolation will be reading with an uneasy feeling under stress knowing at any moment the alien can and often will show up behind you. Plus you need to memorize codes adding to the amount of brain power being taxed in game. Love when you delve into alien lore!

love your stuff!

Awesome Vid! Thank You very much for Your Work! Greetings from Germany

Love your videos!

fantastic analysis

Really missed your analysis videos!

Brilliant work 🤘🏻

Great video mate. Seeing Ron Cobbs conceptual art for the bridge design is awesome.

26:00 when you described the complex detail of the spaceship with all the protruding bits, my thought went to Airplane to panning shot of the cockpit.

The Geometric Torment section feel similar film noir lighting. Alien Isolation does look amazing. I love that title art at 3:40. I just can't bring myself to first person shooter type of video games. I may need to commit to watching a full play-through video at some point. Thanks for another incredible video, Rob.

31:29 - The clinking chains alone in this scene freak me out every time… I’d love to see another video along these lines focusing on “Aliens.”

Lovely. I'll enjoy this tonight! And it's not even my birthday until next month!

What an amazing looking game... such a perfect capturing and even intensifying of the Alien film atmosphere

A Rob video about Alien is always welcomed.

Dead Space is the only other game I can think of that does the optical anxiety perfectly.

Isolation was all about dread. And it follows Amanda Ripley which hits the emotional connection. Great analysis

welcome back. long time no see! sucks that the youtube algorithm is not promoting your work

I noticed that Alien Isolation is such a weird exception for the video game medium. Usually video games are regarded the highest at the time when they come out, because they are heavily evaluated on how advanced video game graphics/technolgy is at the time of their release. Alien Isolation is an extremely rare case of a video game where many thought that it was kind of mediocre when it came out, yet when they go back to it and realize it's far better than they remember when they first played it in 2014. Usually, this phenomenon of people rediscovering something and realize that it's better than it was given credit for when it came out mostly happens with movies, such as The Shining, The Thing, etc.

@ReanimatorsMutilations

2 ай бұрын

Dunno it was pretty immediately brilliant for me. I think just many people never played it when it first came out

@PoletBally

2 ай бұрын

@@ReanimatorsMutilationsActually, I’ve never played it when it first came out. But what got me to play it was learning about more and more people who said that when they first played it it was disappointing or only okay, but when they played it again several years later they thought that it was a masterpiece. It also got a 79 score on MetaCritic, which was only okay.

@ReanimatorsMutilations

2 ай бұрын

@@PoletBally they probably played it for half an hour, didn't see the alien anywhere so turned it off 😂

Always interesting. Thank you. Fear and wonder is a strong element in Alien and the game, fear is the darkness, but the light brings wonder such as in the space jockey reveal- the best reveal on film in my opinion. And in the game, the light (which can be wholesome) shows us wonderful views. Also I find paperwork put up on walls is ignored. And ask people to wish list and follow your game on steam, this has a big impact on visibility.

I keep forgetting y'all call flashlights "torches" on the other side of the pond.

@collativelearning

2 ай бұрын

And you folks call torches flamesticks ;)

Thanks Rob!

The game looks awesome Rob!

@collativelearning

2 ай бұрын

Cheers. Lots more planned for it too. Haven't even got into boss fights or story mode yet.

He's back! I like what your doing with your game.. but I bet I'm not the only fan waiting for a film review.. and Alien too! The rape vibes from alien are worth exploring because its an illusion to how the Weyland Yutani treats their employees.. "perfect lifeform".

As much as I enjoy your other content, I'd be happy if you continued to analyse the Alien franchise until the end of time.

I reccomend Amnesia The Bunker. It is similar to Alien Isolation and absolutely terrifying.

I love this game for his space horror, art design, how it affects our prime anxieties like be alone, darkness, fear for big animals and toxic small animals, The most what I like it shows how dangerous space trips are really. The space is not what many scifi stories tells us, it's very dangerous. The game and the movie are absolutly masterpieces. I can understand why someone likes alien 2 more than one but not how someone can say alien 2 is better than one. Objectivly the first one is far more sophisticated. This is like comparing a cheap comicbook with a picaso.

Thanks Rob

Great video, Rob! I wanted to point out a bit of layering to the techniques you pointed out in this video. Namely, that the visual effects utilized operate on the audience and not the characters. I often observed in past viewings that while I was admiring and deciphering the cluttered backgrounds, the characters never seem to think twice about them. There's never a scene where Brett says, "Oh that docking bay gives me the creeps, go with me!" And I always remarked that Dallas descends into the ventilation shafts alone. In many horror movies this might be passed off as "the dumb characters dancing to their deaths" but in Alien it feels more convincing because (I think) the audience is more willing to accept that it is their own unfamiliarity that is enhancing these locations I also want to give a shout out to Victoria Cartwright, whose performance as Lambert I find more and more important with every viewing. While the audience may want to relate more with strong characters like Dallas, Ripley, or Parker, I suspect most people feel distanced from them by their somewhat unnatural reactions to the locations and situations they find themselves in. Also, the film gradually removes these options either by killing them off or revealing their evil nature. By the other token, while Lambert's shrill protestations and emotional outbursts likely put off the audience consciously but I suspect a lot of people subconsciously relate more to her paralyzing fear than to other characters

@collativelearning

2 ай бұрын

Oh yes, def works on us. Such creepy workplace designs would be ridiculous in reality.

That game was so intense!

Scouse for an hour, love it.

Your game looks pretty dope these days. I didn't expect such progress at all I have to admit. Nice work. Ever heard about the game "prodeus"? It's a pretty cool little retro shooter, maybe you want to do something in this fashion as your next project. Seems right up your alley. Btw Alien Isolation is so awesome, too bad I can't find another game that comes close in terms of ambience, detail and subtle Horror.

@collativelearning

2 ай бұрын

Cheers. Was trying to just make a very simple fun arcade game, but development has spiralled into loads of features I never originally planned. Funny thing is, every time i learn how to do something new technically, it gives me a half dozen ideas of new features to add. Looking forward to working on boss fights pretty soon. Just watched the Prodeus trailer and it looks like a fab Doom-style game. I might buy that. thanks for the heads up.

Love Alien, my favorite movie

I think the utilitarian lived-in realism Millennium Falcon cockpit design, and corridors, inspired the set design changes of the Nostromo.

Awesome video! Was just wondering when the Amityville II full analysis is coming out? Take care

@collativelearning

2 ай бұрын

Not sure. The first vid I did on it was slow to build up views so that put me off a bit. It's been a year and it's hit 30k views. Not terrible, but below my usual counts.

If you are not into gaming but love the Alien franchise, Alien Isolation is probably the best offline single player game ever. Just to experience the immersive atmosphere without the immediate threat of the alien itself is uniquely rewarding. With the threat prowling close by heightens every sense of the atmosphere. 10/10 Game

15:34 this game feels so cinematic and so real that it tricked you into calling it a "set"

@collativelearning

2 ай бұрын

Ha so it did.

It's honestly a shame that we haven't and sadly will never get a sequel to Isolation. It would be so cool if we got an Isolation type game for John Carpenter's The Thing. *THAT* would be extremely terrifying! Rob, why weren't you a fan of the egg morphing scene in the Director's Cut of the film? I thought it was creepy and fantastic because in the greater scheme of things it showed that the Xenomorph didn't necessarily need a Queen in order to reproduce.

It's been rumored both Alien & Blade Runner take place in the same thematic universe. Just what I heard, but it does makes sense.

16:50 The dirty shafts, sticky substance in the dirty shaft, infection? And a shaft entry that clenches up like a bumhole watching an Alien movie. I think i can see what they were going for.

Have you seen the documentary Jodorowskys Dune? It really opens how Cobb, Giger, O'Bannon and the rest are connected

@collativelearning

2 ай бұрын

Haven't watched that.

Hell yeah dude

Yes please and thanks

Great thumbnail for the video Rob! Did you make it yourself?

Alien Isolation is a great game. Can't believe it's been 10 years.

Over-complexity can indeed produce anxiety, but over-simplicity can as well. Look up examples of the “liminal space” trend to see what I mean. Oh yeah, and this also applies to sound. Pretty much everyone finds total silence to be extremely uncomfortable, especially since it allows you to hear your own pulse. I know lots of people who put on ambient noise when they sleep.

42:09 even the satellite dish looks like a Xenomorph is popping out

@collativelearning

2 ай бұрын

That exterior sequence is really unnerving ... the sense of scale of the huge planet waiting to swallow and crush you. Like the player is a grain of sand in the terrifying vastness of the cosmos.

Heh. You convinced me to download this game Rob.

@collativelearning

2 ай бұрын

Enjoy :)

It would be interesting to hear your thoughts on the two versions of Alien 3, even one of those videos where you're just sitting in a chair talking. Whether you like either version or not, the dual existence of those films is something to learn from. The longer cut results in different feelings when viewing scenes present in both films. They aren't the same movie.

Here I was hoping the Alien's "Jazz hands" was mentioned.

I think it's a filmmaker if I was given the opportunity to actually do an Aliens film I think the one I would want to do is definitely a film adaptation of isolation. Byw, I salute you for your game. It looks fantastic!

You should definitely try the game "Scorn". It is heavily inspired by Alien and the paintings of Zdzisław Beksiński! It also works a lot with ominous ,subconscious framings of their scenes.

Striped camouflage I think specifically makes it harder to see the orientation of the animal, making it harder to see which way it is running.